The Last of Us Part II is probably one of my favourite games of all time, even if the story is gruelling and leaves me feeling utterly depressed and empty by the end (which is kinda the point - it’s not a satisfying journey and not a satisfying ending because of the choices of certain characters to do what they did). I however have a few misgivings about it returning so quickly to the event, and how it was handled last time. There’s also the link in to the series which could severely limit what is likely to be in the house.
For starters, think the second half of the game will be off limits - that will be saved for the third season tie in at the event (so no Rat King which I absolutely need to see - they could probably do a whole house based on that sequence alone!).
It needs to be different to the first house also, so think the “neighbourhood”, “hotel” and “sewer” sections won’t make an appearance this year.
So what does that leave us with?
I think we will have the brutal cold opening scene (no spoilers for those watching the series without having played the game). It sets up the story arc and is pivotal to the second game. It’s also a visually stunning set which would work well as the facade, before seeing the logo and starting my the house proper (think a quiet place from this year).
The underground train sequence could work well, but may feel too similar to Descendents of Destruction at HHN31.
The conference centre would be a decent section to cover too - different enough from the first house, gives plenty of opportunities for clickers and stalkers, as well as setting up the serephites which could follow in a forest section.
There’s also the hospital section, which could be used as the spores section of the house to build up to the ending which, hopefully actually does have a proper big ending rather than just suddenly ending like the first house did. I understand that was for a few different reasons but hopefully lessons have been learned.
I doubt they will include any of the theatre or aquarium sections.
There’s plenty of material to play with, but for the house to really work they need to fix the issues of the previous house; the biggest one being how wide open and bright the house felt. As a huge fan of the games I felt the house accurately covered the visual aspects well, but it missed the intensity and at times claustrophobic feel I was hoping for. Hopefully some of the above settings will rectify that, though do think the better sequences are in the second half of the game unfortunately.